Trends in Fleet Management & Tips on How to Embrace the Changes |
|---|
|
Jackie De Burca
December 26, 2009
Jackie De Burca
http://www.cwa-europe.com
In the world of fleet management in the UK there are reviews and changes afoot. The government has committed to electric vehicles for example so over time this will have implications on the costs of running a fleet as well as choices for motor fleet insurance. Current issues are the deep analysis regarding fuel usage and the choice of funding options, the challenges of going green, the demands for continuous cost cutting, health and safety issues to name some. Recent surveys have shown that 30% of companies are carrying out reviews of their company car policies.
Regarding green fleets the trend is on the up and up with research showing that large organisations are taking the lead in this. Entities with 10,000 staff are the ones who have drafted environmentally friendly policies whereas on the other end of the scale companies with 250 staff or less show only a 40% take up of these embracing the green issues. And when it came to investigating industry sectors it is the financial sector which gets the gold stars for their pro-active green policies.
As part of being greener and also with its own financial implications is C02. It has been found that many fleets have put a cap on emissions while many more are doing so. There are incentives on offer by organisations to opt for hybrid cars to attain lower emissions. It is evident that there is an increased commitment to monitoring C02 emissions and some companies are providing diesel only vehicles.
Adding in health and safety issues to the changing environment, having been prompted by new legislation to assess the risks when employees use their own cars, it seems that many companies have come to the conclusion that drivers would be more protected in company vehicles so this in turn is leading to a trend of cash allowance schemes being withdrawn.
The survey shows a trend in levels of workers where the cash option is still available. Status car drivers are going for this option, which can come to figures from £10,000 to £28,000. 54% of board members accepted this option. However at junior management level only 32% of this group chose it and this amounted to around £4,500.
Overall we are seeing a fleet manager's job become even more challenging than before. It is a balancing act of going greener, enforcing the best health and safety practices while continuously having the target of further cost cutting.
In order to embrace these changes, which will be inescapable in the not too distant future, it is recommended to do a 3 year plan as a minimum. This plan can take into account the phasing in of electric vehicles at a rate which is acceptable to the overall performance and financial implications for your fleet. It is estimated taking into account batteries and their running costs that even still running the electric vehicles should reduce the fleet running costs by 20%. On top of this there are motor fleet insurance options which favour those who are opting for green vehicles and therefore offering good fleet insurance packages.
It is also said that the government will offer subsidies between £2000-£5000 on each electric vehicle.
----------------------------------------------------
Jackie de Burca writes about the aspects under review by companies regarding their fleets especially the move towards green fleets. Electric vehicles should be worked into a medium to long term fleet strategy which will in turn affect fleet running costs and motor fleet insurance.
http://www.cover4fleetinsurance.co.uk/motor-fleet-insurance.html